UNCLASSIFIED
New Zealand Ministry of
Foreign Affairs and Trade
Manatū Aorere
195 Lambton Quay
10 October 2025
Private Bag 18−901
Wellington 6160
New Zealand
T +64 4 439 8000
F +64 4 472 9596
N.S Hudson
OIA 29425
[FYI request #26530 email]
OIA 29550
Tēnā koe N.S Hudson
On 7 July 2025 the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (the Ministry) was advised by the
Office of the Ombudsman of your complaint about the Ministry’s decision on two requests
made under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) (OIA 29425 & OIA 29550 refers).
The Ministry was advised that your complaint stated:
I was sent a list of files, I asked to see three of the files and noted that two of them had
6a next to them but the 3rd didn’t. I suggest that any classified info could be redacted
so they could send me a sanitised copy of each, but they refused altogether. I believe
this is wrong as only certain things need actually be redacted such as personal info and
possibly locations. The United States santizes for their OIA requests so why are are
Government depts being lazy and denying complete documents?
Also they withheld the titles of 9 documents, why on earth would document names be
prejudicial to the security or defence of New Zealand or the international relations of the
New Zealand Government?
On 13 August 2025, following discussions that included the Ombudsman, the Ministry
agreed to review the original decision on your OIA requests. This review focused on:
• The decision to withhold three specific files you identified under section 6(a) of
the OIA.
• The Ministry’s reasons for withholding in full the titles of nine documents under
section 6(a) of the OIA.
After reviewing the original decisions, the Ministry still believes that the documents
should be withheld in full under section 6(a) of the OIA, to protect New Zealand’s
international relations. In addition, the Ministry has found that section 6(b)(i) of the OIA
also applies to some of the information being withheld. This is to avoid prejudicing
information entrusted to the New Zealand government by another country.
We note that in your complaint to the Ombudsman you suggested that a sanitised copy
of the information be provided to you with the classified information redacted. However,
even with redactions nothing can be released, so providing redacted copies would not be
useful.
UNCLASSIFIED
Page 2 of 2
Regarding the Ministry’s decision to withhold the titles of nine documents under section
6(a) of the OIA, we would like to clarify that the titles themselves contain sensitive
wording or phrases that reveal sensitive subject matter. The release of these titles would
likley prejudice New Zealand’s international relations with our partners, and therefore, it
is the Ministry’s assessment that withholding these titles under section 6(a) of the OIA is
necessary.
If you have any questions about this decision, you can contact us by email at: DM-
[email address]. You have the right to seek an investigation and review by the
Ombudsman of this decision by
contacting www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or freephone
0800 802 602.
Nāku noa, nā
Sarah Corbett
for Secretary of Foreign Affairs and
Trade
Document Outline
